Follow Us

More

Former Man of Steel Dean Cain Reviews Batman V Superman

While Christopher Reeve tends to cast the longest shadow of any actor to play Superman to date, he's but one of many men to play the iconic character on film or TV over the years. One such actor is Dean Cain, who portrayed the Man of Steel for 4 seasons on ABC's popular '90s series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, alongside Teri Hatcher's Lois Lane.

Naturally, Cain gets asked his opinion on anything to do with Superman - as well as comic book properties in general - quite often. During one of his many convention appearances, the former Last Son of Krypton was asked what he thought of Zack Snyder's recent film Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice.

As reported by ComicBook.com, Cain offered a somewhat mixed review of the movie, but seemed to find a lot to like about it.

"The movie obviously was so well made; the effects were incredible. It was too long, though, and I admit, I dozed off a tiny bit, but maybe that's because I was tired after a lot of traveling. Ben was great as Batman and Henry is a very good Superman. This incarnation is so dark compared to the lightness of the Superman I've grown to know and love, as seen in the two versions that I grew up with — Christopher Reeve and myself. That's the only difference to me. [This movie] inhabits a dark world and Superman is such an alien in that world. Wonder Woman is really easy on the eyes, and I love that they introduced the other guys, the Justice League, because those stories are very cool. I loved how they did that. But I don't see how you have a Justice League without Superman."

Clearly, Cain is kind of in the middle on BVS, neither hating it as much as critics tended to or loving it to the degree that many fans did. Still, it's nice in a historical sense to know that a prominent past Superman - who also currently plays Kara's adoptive father on CBS' Supergirl, in a nice bit of meta-casting - endorses the current actor inhabiting the role within the DCEU. To be fair though, even those who disliked BVS rarely cited Cavill's performance as a major problem with the film, instead usually focusing on plot-holes and other perceived script issues.

That said, when asked during a recent ToyCon Q&A which film he preferred between Batman V Superman and fellow early 2016 superhero film Deadpool, Cain seems to have a clear favorite - and it isn't the one most might expect. Of the two blockbusters, Cain would reportedly "take Deadpool over Batman V Superman any day", although he apparently took a minute to once again praise the work of Batman V Superman's cast right afterward, possibly not wanting to risk biting the DC hand that currently pays his salary. Citing Deadpool as the better of the two movies is certainly not an uncommon opinion, but that still doesn't make it any less surprising to hear from a man so heavily involved in contributing to Superman's on-screen legacy.

Is Deadpool a better film than Batman V Superman? That's a debate for a different venue, although it would make sense that those who prefer their comic book movies to not take themselves too seriously would tend to lean toward the Deadpool side, while those who prefer their comic adaptations to be portrayed as serious high stakes dramas would lean toward Batman V Superman. Then again, who's to say that one can't enjoy both? After all, Dean Cain seems to.

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s “Ultimate Edition” will become available on Digital HD on June 28th, 2016 and Blu-ray on July 19th, 2016. Suicide Squad will hit theaters on August 5, 2016, followed by Wonder Woman on June 2, 2017; Justice League Part One on November 17, 2017; The Flash on March 16, 2018; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; an untitled DC Film on October 5, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League Part Two on June 14, 2019; an untitled DC film on November 1, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020.